SJD Program

Apply to our S.J.D. program and prepare for a distinguished academic career in law.

The Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) Degree Program is designed for those seeking to pursue careers as teachers and scholars of law. This highly selective program is open only to applicants who possess a distinguished prior academic record in law, show promise of outstanding scholarship, and demonstrate a high potential for completing a scholarly dissertation of required quality. Applicants must hold a J.D. degree or foreign equivalent and an LL.M. degree (or be enrolled in a program leading to an LL.M. degree). Applications must include or be accompanied by, inter alia, a detailed statement of research purpose and a letter from a UCLA faculty member attesting to the importance of the applicant's proposed research and agreeing to assume full responsibility for supervising the program of study.

The S.J.D. Program provides a unique opportunity for outstanding international law graduates to study at the UCLA School of Law. In the fifty years since its foundation, UCLA School of Law has grown to an institution of about 950 students and approximately 100 full and part-time faculty members. It is recognized by academic surveys to be among the twenty best law schools in the United States. The school is particularly noted for the unsurpassed expertise of its faculty, whose intellectual strength is balanced by commitments to improved instructional programs and an active recognition of social responsibilities.

UCLA is the premier university in the Los Angeles metropolitan area, a dynamic, cosmopolitan cultural center of more than ten million people. A vital part of the nine-campus University of California system, UCLA has reached national prominence in a variety of disciplines and consistently ranks in the top half-dozen universities in the nation, judged by its academic peers and in terms of fellowships and grants awarded. UCLA now has over 37,000 students enrolled in 13 schools and colleges, 69 departments, and 23 research units. Its 19 libraries hold approximately 7.5 million volumes.

Our distinguished law faculty help prepare these students across an extensive range of law subjects -- using a variety of effective and often interdisciplinary approaches to teaching -- for outstanding careers in academia, transactional and litigation practices, government, international and domestic public policy, business, and nonprofit public interest arenas.

Those who ultimately join us can look forward to a promising future for themselves and for those whom they will teach, inform, and represent.